Something Fishy is Coming to Quarry Park

The 2013 floods changed a lot of things in our city. Perhaps nothing more so than the physical character of our rivers.

Side channel to be activated

Following the 2013 flood The City took forward a number of projects to repair and reinforce banks along the Bow River. These projects helped protect City infrastructure but in some cases had compounding impacts on sensitive fish habitat on the river.

In order to appropriately compensate for the loss of habitat The City identified a number of sites that could supplement lost habitat at other locations. A project in Quarry Park was one of five sites shortlisted.

The Quarry Park project will excavate a historical side channel and install a variety of fish habitat features. The construction is located on the east bank of the Bow River a short distance north of the Ivor Strong Bridge. The project itself will excavate a channel approximately 1 km long with a maximum width of 250m. Two large box culverts will be installed to protect access for the Calgary Fire Department boat launch in Quarry Park.

Phase 1 of the construction schedule began this week and is expected to be completed by May 30th. Phase 2 will start on July 16th after the high-water season and should be completed by October 30th. The existing pathway will be closed for the duration of the construction.
A detour has been created for pathway closures – more details can be found at calgary.ca/pathways

Quarry Park pathway detour

Looking north at south end of side channel

Looking north at approximately the mid part of the side channel

This is an exciting project that will enhance our rivers and help our continued rebuilding efforts from the 2013 floods. I’m looking forward to seeing this project completed later this year.